The Risk of Flooding

As responsible conveyancers, environmental issues form an important part of the service MJP provides its clients. One such issue is flooding, which has recently become a major concern for many people in the UK due to climate change.

Researchers from Bristol University and Fathom have produced a detailed "future flood map" of Britain - simulating the impact of flooding as climate change takes its toll. The map reveals that annual damage caused by flooding could increase by more than a fifth in today's terms over the next century. However, if pledges to reduce global carbon emissions are met, this increase can be prevented.

The new "flood risk map" also reveals which locations will be particularly affected as well as those which will remain largely unaffected due to climate change. The researchers say that this detail is critical for planning decisions in various communities. To develop their simulations, they used data about terrain, river flow, rainfall patterns and sea level to create a picture of how much flood damage there would be across England, Scotland and Wales. They combined this with Met Office climate predictions over the next century and are currently modelling flooding for Northern Ireland too.

Currently, according to the Association of British Insurers, the annual cost of flood damage across the UK is £700m. Dr Oliver Wing from Fathom explains that it is essential to understand how that “flood risk landscape” will change as a result of warming temperatures so appropriate investments can be made into flood defence structures or other measures such as natural flood management or even moving people out of harm’s way in order to protect them better against possible floods.